Your aunt sounds like a DJ to me. That’s what every DJ obsesses over: subtle changes in otherwise repetitive pieces. (Note that the main job of a DJ, apart from choosing what to play, is to make smooth seamless transitions from one piece to another.) Whenever they manage to spot a tiny little change in a piece that otherwise appears to be completely repetitive they go “WOW MAN, THAT DARN LITTLE CHANGE WAS AMAZING, I WISH I COULD COME UP WITH CHANGES LIKE THAT!”
And yes, that is tribal. I don’t know if you used the word as an insult, but pretty much all electronic dance music is tribal, and a good deal of its audience is well aware of this fact and embraces it fully. The only problem with your statement is that house and particularly uplifting trance music, which is rather romantic in comparison, are the least tribal of all EDM sub-genres. These genres are despised precisely for these reasons – because they are not tribal enough – and it is one of the reasons people consider them to be gay.
The purpose of clubs – modern clubs at any rate – is to gather together men and women who want to mate but who do not have enough courage to be open about it (or who are, quite simply, attracted to tribal forms of social interaction.) Music and dancing are just a cover for burning sexual desire. Every DJ knows this. Men, in general, do not like to dance, and less than that they like the idea of spending their time dancing in the public. The whole purpose of clubbing is to get laid (it’s broader than that, to be honest, but still, this is a major part.) This is why club music tends to be female-oriented: men won’t dance UNLESS women dance. So the task of a DJ is to make sure that women are dancing.
The masculine element is the intimidating sound that symbolizes the masculine domination – or will for domination – over the feminine sexual power. Benassi’s Satisfaction is far more intimidating than any other house piece that I posted in this thread (everything else sounds rather innocent in comparison.)
Here’s house music for manly men who need to be reassured of their power every second of their life:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyaA3vVgoFY[/youtube]
This is quite tribal. Still, however, not tribal as some die-hard tribalists want it to be.
You mentioned trance. Trance is a broad category. There are two very distinct and unrelated genres that fall under this category: the tribal varieties (classic, acid, dark, psy and Goa) and the emotional varities (progressive, uplifting, vocal, piano, etc.)
Tribal varieties are influenced by shamanic “Trance Dance” rituals. The difference is that whereas shamanic rituals are spiritual in nature, trance music is material in nature. Instead of breathing techniques and whatever else shamans used to do as a part of their rituals, modern ravers use drugs. As the name “trance” indicates, the music is supposed to be hypnotic, which means extremely repetitive.
Emotional varieties are total opposite of this. The name “trance” is totally inadequate as these genres do not strive to be slow-building at all. In fact, they are notorious for having massive breakdowns that break the usual club formula. Its listeners are also rather asexual and emotional. Hence, these genres are not fit for clubs at all.
Let’s give some examples.
This is tribal trance.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IEyVp6lMpY[/youtube]
Notice how slowly it builds. Notice that infinite suspense. Infinite anticipation of something to happen. And nothing ever happens in the end. Not even the end.
Here’s another one. This one is dubbed “progressive house”. I don’t think it is very house-y. It’s more of a trance.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=salR9zN8XNU[/youtube]
And this is emotional trance.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET1-6Bef9xU[/youtube]
This is what happens when people with Aryan traits try to become DJ’s. They end up like Armin Van Buuren. They end up with Enya on beats.
Here’s another one:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0JBVaHgfEc[/youtube]
This is goosebumps music. The purpose is to create a strong emotional release, and do so quickly within a short period of time. The problem is, it is a one-time event. It is not repeatable.